the following is word for word a letter I sent to petco this morning. As a general rule, i don't buy fish from petco but i will purchase food or decor from there quite often.

"I am the owner of many aquatic pets, who happens to shop at petco regularly. I was absolutely appalled at the condition of the aquatic department in this store i just visited. I witnessed deplorable conditions in almost every display tank. What i saw was so shocking- it could be considered animal cruelty. nearly every tank was full of algae- coating the glass so badly in some areas I couldn't even see the inhabitants. there was also hair algae in about half of the tanks, one of the tanks had an infestation of white bugs. many of them were mis-labled. and to top it all off- one tank which housed "black mollies"- had two dead adult fish, and some small living fry. not only where the fish dead, they were MOLDED and decaying.
this shows not only recent neglect, but severe long term neglect. i wouldn't have bought a single fish in that store. many of them looked pale and unwell. This just disgusted me. I have been in several other petcos, and have not every seen anything quite this bad. I will be posting this and telling this story to all fish keepers and pet owners I know, and I sincerely hope- for the animals sake, that drastic measures be taken to correct this situation. Thank you for your time."

what is not in this letter, is that also, they had not one but FIVE display tanks selling chinese algae eaters for $1... also when i asked to speak to the manager, he kept insisting that their aquatics person called in sick the previous day- which is a cop out, cause it didn't get that nelgected over night!! grrrrr. never going to petco again!

dallops_of_polyps

02-23-2008 09:13 PM

the petco in my town is mediocre so good job i will boycott there products!

herefishy

02-24-2008 12:46 AM

Quite humorous that they had the excuse that their aquatics person called off the day before. Like those condidtions happened in one day. They sure wouldn't have wanted me to give them the "herefishy lecture". I am not pretty when I'm angry. I'm not even likable.

bf2king

02-24-2008 02:53 PM

My Petco was bad for like the first 2-3 months it was open but now its really quit a decent store (after i told them just cause oscars are the same speacies doesnt mean 1.5-2 inch fish go in with 4-5 inch fish.

Also have seen hole in the head there once long ago but other then that they have a better standerd then most lfs-lps-mps in my area.

Although as u describe these conditions they are outrageous and herenderous. if i saw that i would boycot them and would have taken pics with my camera phone for proof.

I really hope that people will stop spending money in places like this. I have one lps that will take in any animal u bring them... they have 2 ID sharks in a koi pond allong with multiple tin foils barbs... its so bad that the koi's and the tins dorsal fin sticks out of the water.

They also freeze their mice live for those who call in asking if they have any frozen mice (i know this because of my ball python) its needless to say i dont even think about going in that store anymore.

willow

02-24-2008 03:32 PM

[quote="bf2king"
They also freeze their mice live for those who call in asking if they have any frozen mice (i know this because of my ball python) its needless to say i dont even think about going in that store anymore.[/quote]

is that not pure animal cruelty ?

bf2king

02-24-2008 06:48 PM

my point exactly.. and if the mice die that they keep for feeders they get tossed in the freezer no matter what... its just not good to feed ur animal that kind of stuff...

they had a 10 inch cichlid in a 15 gallon tank aswell... i just hate it there.. compared to that most petco's/petsmart's are perfect pet shops..

bettababy

02-24-2008 11:00 PM

It is bad out there, no denying that. Have you ever wondered if its just the LFS's that are so bad? Here's a link to show you the rest of it. I warn you, please don't watch this while or right after eating, it is pretty sickening to see.

I applaud you and your efforts in writing that letter. I hope it helps to encourage others to do the same. I am working now on a letter to the SPCA in Texas about the petsmart issue in the link. I'm not a big fan of PETA, but they do expose a lot that needs to be dealt with. I am curious to find out if this place is still allowed to do business. I'm sure Petsmart isn't their only client... I wonder if Petco is on their list too... makes you think, huh?

Keep up the good work folks... we can beat them if we stick together and keep pushing for higher standards. The important thing to remember is that all we are asking them to do is what anyone of us would be doing... the humane thing. Our demands aren't outrageous, which means it will be that much more likely that they are met at some point. Keep writing, keep complaining, and spend your money somewhere else whenever needed. You're on the right track, that was a great letter!

bf2king

02-24-2008 11:23 PM

What gets me is people dont understand if u put just a little more money out to keep the animals in acceptable (not ideal but even acceptable would be better) that u would have far less animal deaths. Thus in the long run u would make more money and not have animals returned cause they die withing 2 weeks.

Like i said my Petco is an exception to the rule... my Petsmart seems decent aswell. i have complaints about both but if they would simply fix these problems,

1) they would have far more buisness from the people who actually get stuff in bulk and buy far more then the average joe as we tend to own more pets then most and we look for quality.

2) Far less animal deaths thus less money waisted (more buisness and less waisted money pretty good so far)

3) they would not be hounded by every (no offence) "tree hugger" for deplorible conditions.

4) if the big companies take better care then the little ones would be forced to... if not they might just be put out of buisness when people notice the conditional standerds.

I have 2 lps i refuse to set foot in.... somethings they are cheaper in but one is as i described above... and one keeps 5-10 guinea pigs in a 20 gallon. reptiles in tanks shorter then there boddies..., 200 feeder mice in a 40 gallon breeder.... and the list goes on these people piss me off as i know they tick many more people off then just me...

bettababy

02-24-2008 11:45 PM

Some people just have no morals... but something tells me that the group of us who have is much bigger. If we pull together, keep fighting, we can make all the difference in the world. As a wise friend of mine said to me recently, "Rome wasn't built in a day." We just have to keep at it, and we have to stay determined to do whatever we each can do, however big or small, to contribute to the resolution to the many problems we face with the animals. There is right and there is wrong. What we are talking about here, its just wrong, there is no way to argue that one.

Each of us here should be proud of ourselves for standing and facing this fight. Our job now is to recruit everyone we know into standing with us. There are a lot of people who don't own pets, have no idea what's happening, but would be disgusted if they found out. Tell everyone who will listen. Information is power... lets use it!

miagrrl

02-25-2008 09:00 PM

i got a reply from petco today, it said that "the aquatic hobby is sometimes messy" that they will never sell an unwell fish and then it mentioned that petco does hourly animal checks....(then tell me how come there were TWO MOLDED DEAD fish in one tank?? i guess they just missed that....for days). it was basically a "thanks, but no thanks" type of canned response. grrrrr. that just makes me more upset than the initial shock of the poor fish in the first place!!!!!!!